Helicopter tourism for Halong Bay

She made the proposal at a meeting with Nguyen Van Tuan, Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and provincial officials on November 7.

She added that Malaysian budget airlines AirAsia will offer flight from Kuala Lumpur to Da Nang next month and Halong may be its next destination, so helicopter services will help to boost the provincial tourism sector.

According to the minister, Quang Ninh should also open specialised parks and sea museums to serve travellers.

Pham Minh Chinh, Party Committee Secretary of the province, introduced the advantages of the area to his guests, particularly for tourism development in Halong Bay. He, however, noted that Quang Ninh’s tourism industry still faced difficulties related to infrastructure and human resources, and expected co-operation with international partners, including Malaysia, to help further tapping the area’s tourism potential.

The Malaysian minister said, tourism is among five key economic areas in Malaysia. It creates over one million jobs and contributes 25% to the country’s GDP annually.

Halong Bay has been named on the most recent shortlist of the 10 new natural wonders of world by the New Open World Corporation, four days before the poll ends.

Eamonn Fitzgerald, who is in charge of the New Open World Corporation, said the list could change in the remaining days of the campaign before the final list was released November 11.

The Vietnamese Tourism Promotion Centre has mobilized 300 volunteers to join online forums to urge members to vote for the bay.